


Hulk Day

by 44TayLo



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Bruce Banner/Tony Stark (Background) - Freeform, Bruce has DID, Clint Barton Is a Good Bro, Deaf Clint Barton, Fluff, Gen, Hulk has apraxia of speech, Hulk is Smart, Team Bonding, Tony Stark Is a Good Bro
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-01
Updated: 2020-08-01
Packaged: 2021-03-06 04:26:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,040
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25657375
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/44TayLo/pseuds/44TayLo
Summary: "As Bruce got to know Hulk as a person, his fear eased, until they finally struck an agreement: Hulk would front at least once a week, if not more.Spending time with Hulk had revealed to Bruce that he had a child-like personality. This made sense, given how little life experience Hulk had, and how that life experience usually involved defending them or running for their lives. Bruce wanted to make sure Hulk had opportunities to experience the good things life had to offer and to grow.Today just so happened to be a Hulk day."Featuring ASL lessons, sushi, team movie night, and--of course--plenty of smashing.
Relationships: Clint Barton & Hulk, Hulk & Avengers Team, Hulk & Thor, Hulk & Tony Stark
Comments: 8
Kudos: 47





	Hulk Day

**Author's Note:**

  * For [dr_zofia_bites](https://archiveofourown.org/users/dr_zofia_bites/gifts).



> Happy Birthday, dr_zofia_bites! Sorry this is late <3
> 
> I tried to be as accurate in regards to the symptoms of apraxia of speech as possible. I myself don't have apraxia, though I know people who do. If anything I've said is inaccurate or offensive, please let me know!

There’d been a time when Bruce had thought he was doomed to a life of terror and self-loathing. He’d been on the run for so long, it was impossible to imagine any other way of living. He’d accepted it. Sort of. Begrudgingly.

Then he’d met Tony.

Tony, who’s first words to him culminated in a compliment regarding his scientific achievements. Who’s following words then acknowledged and complimented Hulk. Right off the bat, Tony was kind to both of them. He even understood what it was like to have your life turned upside down, to have to thrash and scratch and fight to escape a situation borne of your own hubris.

At the time, Bruce refused to see the similarities between his terrible privilege and Tony’s, but now he knows they’re there. He sees that as clearly as Tony now sees the differences.

Bruce stuck around after the Battle of New York because of Tony. He hated admitting that, hated putting that kind of pressure on their then-friendship, now-romantic-relationship, but it’s the truth. No one had ever acted as if he and Hulk were both achingly human, before. Bruce reveled in it. On some level, he was aware that Hulk did, too.

Over the course of a handful of months, Tony’s influence changed ‘the Other Guy’ to ‘Hulk’ in Bruce’s mind. And a few months after that, Bruce was trying to understand Hulk instead of entertaining ideas about getting rid of him. Then, Tony revealed that he now believed Bruce and Hulk were different people.

“He’s you, but he’s not you,” Tony had said with a shrug. As if that made any sense at all. Before Bruce could interrupt, he’d continued, “The Big Guy isn’t mindless, he’s a person. But beyond physical appearance and shared triggers, he seems different from you. He has his own personality.”

Bruce’s brain had latched onto that. He already firmly believed they were different entities, but something about the _way_ Tony said it felt different. His own personality…

That marked the moment Bruce began to try and talk with Hulk.

They were pretty good at it, now, having had months of practice. Bruce had decided to approach their dynamic as if he had DID and Hulk was an alter. It seemed to be working. As Bruce got to know Hulk as a person, his fear eased, until they finally struck an agreement: Hulk would front at least once a week, if not more.

Spending time with Hulk had revealed to Bruce that he had a child-like personality. This made sense, given how little life experience Hulk had, and how that life experience usually involved defending them or running for their lives. Bruce wanted to make sure Hulk had opportunities to experience the good things life had to offer and to grow.

Today just so happened to be a Hulk day.

Hulk had grown very fond of his days out. But even though he’d had a lot of Hulk days, he still had a hard time talking. His thoughts sounded good and right, but he couldn’t make his mouth _say_ them, and that made him angry. And sad. He hated feeling stupid.

Tony and Bruce said he had something called “apraxia of speech.” Hulk hated that he couldn’t even say the thing that he apparently had.

Because talking was so hard, Hulk tried to speak as little as possible. His grammar was better, in general, but some days talking was just too hard and all he could force out were fragmented sentences that got a general point across.

He felt like that today. With a great sigh, he left his bedroom and met Tony in his and Bruce’s living room. Bruce and Hulk had their own bedrooms, but they shared a floor. It’d been easy enough for Tony to reinforce the furniture, as well as special order things to accommodate Hulk’s size.

“Hey, Big Guy!” Tony greeted.

“Hi, Tone-y.” Hulk huffed again and stared at the floor. His words were bad. He sounded stupid.

A gentle pat on his forearm made him look up. He’d heard Tony move, of course, but had decided to be stubborn until Tony offered physical reassurance.

Frown twisting his mouth, but eyes still gentle, Tony said, “Bad talking day, huh?”

Hulk just nodded.

“Good thing you have sign language lessons today.”

As if on cue, Clint strolled out of the elevator. “Hey, Jade Jaws. You ready to get edumacated?” he asked.

Hulk tensed, a growl building in his chest.

“That’s just Clint,” Tony soothed, even as he rolled his eyes. “He’s not mocking you, he’s just a dumbass.”

Clint had the good sense to look embarrassed. “Oh shit, no. I wasn’t making fun of you, bud. It’s a meme.”

Hulk’s expression softened. “’ike meh-mes.”

“I know you like them,” Clint agreed. “Especially the Ross one.”

With a rumbling laugh, Hulk nodded. Banner wouldn’t admit it, but he liked that one, too. Ever since Ross lost his temper and went red in the face on live television, he’d become a reaction picture. Mainly, it was used to make fun of a generation called “boomers.” At least, that was what Bruce had told him.

Once Clint and Hulk settled in to begin their lesson, Tony stretched up on his tip-toes to kiss Hulk’s cheek and ruffle his hair. “Be good, Big Guy. I’ll be back in an hour.”

While Hulk struggled with spoken words, he excelled in sign language. Tony often stayed to learn along with him, but Hulk knew he had a meeting today. Hulk didn’t mind, though. Sometimes, it was nice to not be reminded of how Tony was so much smarter than him. As fast as Hulk picked up sign language, Tony picked it up even faster.

The hour went by quickly, and afterwards, Hulk felt much better. At least he sounded smart in sign language.

[You are doing awesome,] Clint signed.

[Thank you. You are a good teacher,] Hulk signed right back.

Clint preened, a bit smug. [I am very proud of you.]

Now it was Hulk’s turn to look a bit smug. He really liked Clint. He was a good friend, and he hadn’t been lying about him being a good teacher.

After his lesson, Tony returned with donuts and a promise that they’d go to his very special smashing room. The donuts were good, and Hulk signed as much to Tony.

[Donuts are the best,] Tony replied easily.

When they were finished with breakfast, they went to the smashing room as promised. They played tag for a while, with Tony in his metal suit, and Hulk was very careful not to hurt him. He was always very careful not to hurt anyone on the team, but he was especially gentle with Tony.

Eventually, Tony tired out. Hulk had expected that to happen, though, and was perfectly content to smash the bits of metal and big rocks Tony kept in the room for him while Tony relaxed. A quick glance in Tony’s direction told him he was working on a holographic model. Just being around Tony, even if they were doing their own things, was very, very nice.

“Hey, you hungry?” Tony eventually called.

Hulk paused, thinking, and then nodded.

“I believe the team has ordered sushi, Sir,” JARVIS informed them, unprompted.

Tony hummed. “I’m not sure if you’ll like sushi.”

Shrugging, Hulk signed, [I will try it.]

“If you don’t like it, we can always order pasta.”

Hulk just grinned. This was why he liked Tony. He took good care of him and Bruce, and he and Bruce took good care of Tony. Everything was good. It left Hulk with a warm feeling in his chest that turned into a soft rumble as they waited in the elevator.

A laugh interrupted Hulk’s thoughts.

“Sorry, I just think that if everyone knew you purred, they wouldn’t be nearly as scared of you.”

Hulk huffed. Bad guys should be scared of him, because he’s the strongest there is, but it’d be nice if other people weren’t so scared.

The team was in the living room, takeout containers all around them. The food smelled good to Hulk, and so when Tony told him to try something called a “California roll,” he picked up the tiny circle of food and popped it in his mouth.

It was good. Very good! He carefully ate several more, the yummy food and good company causing the rumbling in his chest to grow louder.

“I think he likes it,” Thor said to the others, tone teasing and full of mirth.

Hulk rolled his eyes. “S’ill s’ronger,” he replied in a teasing jab of his own.

“That remains to be seen.”

Hulk grinned wickedly in clear invitation, and based on Thor’s expression, it appeared his challenge had been accepted.

They continued to eat, and Hulk tried a few more types of sushi. He easily ate a few salmon and Philadelphia rolls, but hesitated when offered something called a spider roll. Tony assured him there weren’t any actual spiders in it, which Hulk was happy about, because it made him try the roll and it was good. He didn’t understand why someone would name it something so misleading, though.

After lunch, Hulk and Thor sparred for a while in the smashing room. Hulk won, of course. Thor kept saying it was only because he didn’t want to summon any lightening and risk catching the Tower on fire.

As Hulk continued to sit on top of Thor, he replied, “So-re loser.”

“Aye, fine, now just get off of me.”

Hulk obliged, if only because he wanted to make it in time for the team movie.

By the time he and Thor joined the others, they were comfortably seated on the shared floor’s large couch. Steve and Tony were bickering about which movie to watch. It seemed Natasha was content to watch the argument, an amused smile on her face, while Clint kept egging Steve and Tony on.

Knowing JARVIS would see and understand, Hulk finger spelled _“Lilo and Stich.”_ Immediately, the movie started, the loud surround sound catching Steve and Tony off guard and silencing their argument. One of the few movies they could ever all agree on was _Lilo and Stitch_ , and so no one protested.

The movie finally picked, Tony climbed onto Hulk’s lap and got comfortable. Bruce had once explained that Tony had bad circulation, and Hulk knew he was very warm. As the movie started and Tony settled, he began rumbling happily. He had no problem keeping Tony warm.

Tony had a habit of always moving some part of his body, and right now he was gently moving a hand up and down Hulk’s knee. Hulk smiled. Kind touches were nice. He’d only known touches that hurt for so long, and now he got hugs from Tony and gentle pats from the rest of the team all the time.

Feeling safe and tired, Hulk carefully maneuvered them so that Hulk was lying on the soft, shaggy carpet and holding Tony like a teddy bear. He made sure they were scooted over to the side enough so that the others could still see the massive TV.

Tony’s eyes were wide. “Uh—”

“Shh. S’eep,” Hulk softly demanded.

Someone snickered, and it sounded like Clint. Hulk didn’t care, though.

“Tone-y spe…spe…” He huffed, this frustration completely unwelcome. The way he was laying, he couldn’t easily move both hands to sign and keep Tony comfortable.

“Hey,” Tony soothed. He turned, one of Hulk’s arms still securely around him, so that he was facing Hulk’s chest and could pat it. “I think you’re special, too.” At that, Tony settled back down and didn’t protest being cuddled. He even brought a hand to gently rest against Hulk’s own, massive forearm, and began to move it back and forth in the same way he’d done on Hulk’s knee.

The movie continued on, but Hulk wasn’t really watching. He was too busy thinking about what a great day this had been, and how good his life was. He’d hadn’t even known his life could be good before they’d moved to the Tower. Hulk never wanted to leave.

As he drifted off, he felt Bruce echo that thought somewhere deep in their mind.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! Comments and kudos are greatly appreciated <3


End file.
